# Question types

> The eleven kinds of question a form can ask, the settings each one takes, and how every answer reads in the WhatsApp message.

A form holds up to 20 questions. Each one collects one kind of answer, chosen in **Answer Type**, and the form checks that answer before the respondent can move on.

## The eleven types

| Type            | What it collects                                               |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Short text      | A single line of text                                          |
| Paragraph       | A longer, multi-line answer                                    |
| Email           | An email address, checked for a valid format                   |
| Phone           | A phone number with its country code, checked for that country |
| Dropdown        | One option from a dropdown list                                |
| Number          | A numeric value                                                |
| Single choice   | Exactly one option                                             |
| Multiple choice | Any number of options                                          |
| Time            | A time of day                                                  |
| Date            | A single calendar date                                         |
| Date range      | A start date and an end date                                   |

Dropdown suits a long list. Single choice shows every option at once, which suits a few.

## Settings on every question

- **Question**: what you ask, up to 120 characters. Every question needs one before the form can be published.
- **Required**: on for every new question. A required question must be answered before the respondent can continue. An optional one shows an **Optional** tag, and in the step-by-step layout its button reads **Skip** until it is answered.
- **Helper Text**: guidance shown under the question, up to 500 characters.
- **Placeholder**: a hint inside the field, up to 200 characters. Short text, Paragraph, Email, Number and Dropdown take one.

The arrows on a question move it up or down, the copy icon duplicates it with all its settings, and the trash icon deletes it. A new form starts with two questions, Full name and Email address, which you can change.

## Choices

Dropdown, Single choice and Multiple choice list their **Options**. Select **Add option** for each one, up to 20 options of up to 200 characters. To publish, a choice question needs at least one option and no blank ones.

In the step-by-step layout, picking an option in a Single choice or Dropdown question moves on to the next question. On the last question it doesn't: the respondent taps **Finish**.

Renaming an option keeps any [conditional logic](https://walink.com/docs/forms/logic) that uses it.

## Minimums and maximums

Four types take an optional minimum and maximum. Leave a box blank for no limit.

| Type                  | Setting                | What it limits                 |
| --------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Short text, Paragraph | **Answer length**      | Characters in the answer       |
| Number                | **Value range**        | The number itself              |
| Multiple choice       | **Selectable choices** | How many options can be picked |

The maximum can't be lower than the minimum, and a Multiple choice minimum can't be higher than its number of options. A respondent outside the limits is told why, for example "Use at least 10 characters." or "Pick at most 2."

The other types check their own format:

- Email needs a valid address.
- Phone has a country list with search, and the number must be valid for the country picked.
- Date range needs both dates, and the end date can't be before the start date.
- Date and Time take any date or time.

## How answers appear in WhatsApp

Each answered question becomes one line of the message: the question, a colon, then the answer. WhatsApp shows the text between the asterisks in bold.

| Type            | Line in the message                   |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Short text      | `*Full name:* Ana Torres`             |
| Paragraph       | `*Notes:* Sensitive to cold drinks.`  |
| Email           | `*Email:* ana@example.com`            |
| Phone           | `*Phone:* +1 415 555 0123`            |
| Dropdown        | `*Clinic:* Mission Bay`               |
| Number          | `*Patients:* 2`                       |
| Single choice   | `*Visit type:* Checkup`               |
| Multiple choice | `*Treatments:* Cleaning, Whitening`   |
| Time            | `*Preferred time:* 9:30 AM`           |
| Date            | `*Preferred date:* Sep 12, 2026`      |
| Date range      | `*Stay:* Sep 12, 2026 → Sep 15, 2026` |

A few details:

- An optional question left blank, or one the respondent wasn't asked, is left out of the message.
- Several choices are separated by commas.
- Dates are written as month, day and year, and times on a 12-hour clock, in every form.
- Phone numbers are written in international format, with the country code.
- A Paragraph answer starts on the same line as its question and keeps its own line breaks.
- If a question ends with a colon, the colon isn't doubled.

The whole message, with your opening line, is on [Responses](https://walink.com/docs/forms/responses).